Air Tahiti Nui launched service to Seattle on October 5, 2022, providing twice-weekly direct service to Papeete on Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners.
“North America is a key marketplace for our vacation spot. So, once we determined to open a second gateway on the West Coast, Seattle was a pure reply for us,” stated Air Tahiti Nui Managing Director Mathieu Bechonnet. “I want to thank our companions at Alaska Airways and the Seattle-Tacoma Worldwide Airport for his or her heat welcome and assist in making this occur.”
The airline and airport hosted a gala-like arrivals ceremony full with the requisite speeches, present alternate, and conventional dancers.
The 4,785-mile flight’s scheduled period is eight hours and forty-seven minutes, which takes a bit much less time than the 4,800-mile flight from Seattle to London.
Seattle is the airline’s second North American vacation spot; its first was Los Angeles. In the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, the airline ceased operations at LAX and flew its Papeete-Paris (CDG) route by way of both Vancouver Worldwide Airport (YVR) or Pointe-à-Pitre (PTP), and resumed the traditional routing in Could, 2021.
Air Tahiti Nui was based in 1996, first flying Airbus A340-200s and -300s, with the final of these plane having been retired in 2019 in favor of the airline’s present fleet of 4 Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners. Present routes from their Papeete hub are to Paris (by way of Los Angeles), Tokyo, Auckland, Los Angeles, and now Seattle.
The plane used for the inaugural, F-OMA, was named Fakarava, after a Tahitian atoll.
A codeshare settlement between Air Tahiti Nui and Alaska Airways permits passengers to journey by way of SEA to and from nearly 100 cities throughout North America. We hope to get the chance to fly the route sooner or later.
